Zambia President’s Visit to Israel Raises Questions About Health

June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Zambian Vice President Guy Scott was
questioned in Parliament about President Michael Sata’s
unannounced trip to Israel amid reports that he is seeking
medical treatment there.

Lawmakers in the capital, Lusaka, today asked Scott why the
government failed to provide details of Sata’s visit until two
days after he left the country. Scott said Sata, 76, is on a
“working holiday” in Israel, declining to respond to rumors of
ill health.

“If you wish to believe some other fantastical tale then
go ahead and enjoy it,” Scott said in Parliament, when asked to
provide video proof that the president is in Israel. “But he is
in Israel.”

Local media have questioned why Sata would visit Israel
when that country’s leader, Shimon Peres, is in the U.S. on a
state visit. Zambia Watchdog, a newsblog, said on June 23 Sata
is receiving medical care at a cancer treatment center in Tel
Aviv.

“The Israeli president is aware of President Sata’s
presence in Israel and may in due course meet him when it is
convenient for both presidents,” Scott said. “That is all I
can say, sir, without venturing into the fantasy world of the
Zambian social media and its necrophiliac correspondents and
editors.”

Sata was elected as president of Africa’s second-largest
copper producer in 2011. His waning health has led to a
succession battle within the ruling Patriotic Front before
general elections in 2016, Clare Allenson, an analyst at Eurasia
Group Ltd., said in a note to clients on Jan. 8.